The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond Page #5

- You told them

I bought you clothes.

I want to know why you told them

I bought clothes for you.

- Well, why did you, Fisher?

- Because I...

I felt sorry for you.

- Oh?

- And because

you're a gentleman,

grandson of a governor

of this state.

And you dress like a-

like a field hand.

- Well, not so much

of a gentleman

that you wouldn't suspect me

of stealing.

Stand up.

Or are you too drunk too?

- I had some liquor

in the kitchen

when they were searching

my clothes

for your teardrop diamond.

- Are you gonna drink

like your father?

Jimmy, don't-don't walk away

when I'm talking to you.

- What do you want, Fisher?

You say you found your diamond.

- I did not say

that I found it.

Julie said that I did.

I agreed to let her say it

so there'd be no more talk.

- Hey!

Turn off that Victrola!

I have an important announcement

to make,

a very important announcement.

Fisher Willow did not find

her diamond,

never said she found it,

had Julie say it for her.

Jimmy, you misunderstood.

I was there when she found it.

- Under the circumstances,

I think I'd like to go home.

I- I don't feel well.

I- I don't want to stay

and spoil the party.

- Fisher, stay.

Look, it's all forgotten now.

I'm gonna get Mama to bed

so we can play Post Office.

- Play what?

- Your mama is guarding

that punch bowl like a hawk.

Nobody's had a chance

to spike it,

so the boys are drinking

straight moonshine in the yard.

- I'll get Eddie Peacock

to dance your mama

away from the bowl.

- Tommy, will you dance

with Fisher?

She's decorating the wall.

- She'll decorate walls

all her life.

- Not the walls

at this party.

- Walls in Memphis?

- No, much, much further

than Memphis.

- Aw.

- Oh, Fisher.

- I dare you

to go up and ask her

if she'd like a good lay.

- All right.

- Pull her back

in the bushes.

- Mama's gone upstairs.

- Oh, well, good for Mama.

I'll get the cards.

Are they gonna play

some kind of kids' game?

- Haven't you ever played

Post Office?

- Why, no.

- It's a kissing game.

- Oh.

You mean we're all gonna kiss

each other like-

like New Year's Eve?

- No, it's more private.

- I don't understand

this game.

- Just watch.

You'll catch on.

- Hey.

- Julie, I don't know

what's going on.

- Oh, we're dealing the cards

for Post Office.

Here, take this.

And keep it out of sight.

It's the ace of spades.

It's the highest card

in the deck,

which means that you

are the postman

and you are gonna send Jimmy

a letter.

- Julie, really,

isn't this sort of silly?

- Well, no more than life is.

Turn that record off.

Mama might catch on.

- Whoops.

- What record was that

you broke, Hank Ellis, you fool?

- Eh, it's just some old one.

Blues.

- Oh, the Basin Street Blues?

That is a classic.

- Julie, a classic

is something by Beethoven

or Brahms-

- Naturally,

I meant a modern classic.

And I do not retract

my statement

that you are a fool.

Now, has everybody got cards?

- We don't have any cards,

Julie.

- Take 'em.

Draw a card each.

Whoever turned that lamp off

better turn it back on.

- Shine on

Shine on, harvest moon

Up in the sky

I ain't had no lovin'

Since January, February

June and July

Snow time

Ain't no time to stay

"Warning:
Contains

a small amount of opium

"and could be habit-forming.

One or two teaspoons

at bedtime. "

- Almost forgot the costumes.

My heavens, Fisher, what are you

doing with that bottle?

- Oh, I-I noticed it in the-

What is it?

- It's one of Aunt Addie's

fake remedies with opium in it.

- It had rather

a nice bitter taste.

- Oh, Fisher,

you took some of it?

Let me put some ice

on your forehead at once.

You stay right here.

- Well, Fisher...

We thought you'd be gone.

- I hope you'll all excuse

my fit of nerves.

I've spent some time

in a mental clinic in Zurich.

And you never completely...

return.

- Oh, there you are, Fisher.

Mama has finally

gone to sleep.

So who has the highest card?

- Jimmy has an ace.

- Of what, spades?

- No, hearts.

- Well, that can only be beaten

by the ace of spades.

Has anybody got

the ace of spades?

Anybody?

Well, Jimmy,

you're the postman.

Go out to the post office

on the veranda

and deliver someone a letter.

Remember, the time limit

is three minutes.

Be smart.

Whoa!

- Will you hush

so I can hear

who the letter

is gonna be delivered to?

- I have a letter

for miss Vinnie McCorkle.

- For me?

- Remember, three minutes.

That is the strict time limit.

Who's got a watch?

- May I supply the music

on the piano?

- Your eyelashes,

I feel them on my cheek.

- We've only got

three minutes.

- According

to Julie's kissing game.

Kissing is where I start.

Follow me.

Hurry.

- Many men.

Of course, some were

just kids with pimples,

but others who were

responsible men with positions

have said to me,

"I love you, Vinnie. "

But only one has ever said,

"Will you marry me, Vinnie?"

- And you turned down

the proposal

from the responsible man?

- Yes.

He had a position,

a good one,

as an officer

of the Delta Planters Bank.

- You turned him down?

- It was just-

Well, I couldn't

consider marriage

with a man

I wasn't attracted to...

physically, Jimmy.

Like-like back

in the car there,

it took my breath away.

It did.

Didn't you hear me

gasping for breath?

- Yeah, so was I.

- Not as loud as me.

I don't want to keep

any secrets from you, Jimmy.

None.

I have a-

Mm.

Something happened tonight.

And I want to tell you

about it.

I want to show it to you.

Follow me, quick.

- Jimmy! Vinnie!

- Don't answer those calls.

- What you digging for,

Vinnie?

Oh, my God.

I wonder if it was here.

I counted down five bushes.

This is-

oh, oh, this the fourth.

It's the next one.

Here

Here it is.

- What?

- Release. Release.

Release.

- God, is that the-

- Shh, don't say it.

This is our secret now.

- Vinnie, you can't be serious,

are you?

- Of course I'm serious.

That's worth $5,000.

- And I know

where the other one is.

I saw Fisher take it off

in Aunt Addie's bedroom

and put it beside the clock

on the mantel.

I'm going up there

and get it too.

$10,000.

It's a fortune.

Why, a pretty girl

with a fortune

is more than just

sexually desirable.

She's someone even a Dobyne V

might accept as a wife.

- You must have gone crazy.

- To love you.

To want you.

To run away with you anywhere

for life.

- Vinnie.

This is all wrong.

This is a terrible mistake.

You got to think about pride,

think about honesty.

- A girl who works

at the cosmetic counter

of Liggett's Drug Store

on a side street in Memphis

does not think about pride

and honesty

standing between her

and release,

to life and-

and to love.

- All I can say is...

give it back to her.

- Not on your life, boy.

Finders are keepers

and losers are weepers,

if she's human enough to weep.

Go back in the parlor.

I'm gonna go upstairs

and get the other one.

- Vinnie-no, Vinnie,

I'm poor.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes